1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the loading of bales of hay onto transport wagons and trailers, and more particularly, to the automatic loading, transporting and unloading of round, 1,500 pound rolls of hay onto and from a bale wagon having a roller bed and a pivoting loading carriage, the latter of which is activated by an electric winch. The automatic bale wagon is removably attached to a pickup truck and is initially maneuvered and positioned with the carriage fork tines beneath a selected bale of hay. When the electric 3-drum winch is activated, the carriage and bale are lifted and the bale of hay is rolled by gravity onto the wagon roller bed. The bale is then automatically moved to a predetermined spot on the roller bed, and another bale is engaged and loaded. The automatic bale wagon of this invention is capable of handling multiple round bales of hay, and in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the wagon is designed to carry four such rolls, which are automatically unloaded from the rear of the bale wagon by activation of the electric winch in a desired sequence.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Techniques for loading hay into wagons for transportation to barns or livestock feeding areas have taken many forms in the prior art. Early loading procedures were directed to the manual tossing of loose hay into large wagons or trailers by means of hay forks for such transportation. Later techniques included the use of automatic hay balers which baled the hay and subsequently placed it on a storage rack or trailer, which either forms an integral part of, or is towed by the bailer. Such devices are generally designed to bail the familiar rectangular-shaped hay bales. Other loading techniques included side loading, front loading and rear loading bale wagons which were generally designed for manual operation using ropes and slings to achieve the desired loading of the bales. Typical of these machines is the "Hay and Shock Loader" disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,364,308 to R. Niewendorp, which is designed to be pulled by a tractor. A single bale, rear loading apparatus is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,954 to Donald L. Woods. The device includes a forklift frame which pivots over the trailer wheels to lift a round bale of hay. The trailer is pulled by a tractor or other vehicle.
Various other lifting devices for specific use in cooperation with vehicles in lifting and transporting the round hay bales are known to those skilled in the art. Many of these devices are designed for use with the so-called "three point" lifting device mounted on the back of tractors. The three point hydraulic lifting mechanism is particularly well known to those who use tractors in agriculture and is useful for such lifting operations as transporting bales of hay and pulling various farm implements, such as discs and grass-cutting implements. While the tractor-mounted, three point mechanical arrangement is a very useful feature in various agricultural and other operations, use of such a device generally requires that the operator be exposed to the weather except under rare circumstances where the tractor is enclosed. Furthermore, contact between the three point mechanical lifting attachment and the object or objects to be lifted frequently requires that the operator make the connection manually by a combination of adjusting the position of the tractor and physically adjusting the load to correspond to the lifting apparatus. Accordingly, this requires that the operator be exposed in inclement weather whenever he desires to use the tractor-mounted mechanism under adverse weather conditions.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved automatic bale wagon which combines an automatic bale-engaging carriage lifting device with a bale storage platform having a roller bed for lifting, loading and positioning round hay bales in the field.
Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved bale wagon for automatically lifting, loading, positioning and transporting multiple round bales of hay, which wagon includes an electric winch having three cable drums; a pivoting carriage having bale tines for initially engaging a bale of hay, lifting the bale and subsequently depositing the bale onto a roller bed provided in the wagon frame; and a rake means mounted in cooperation with the roller bed to automatically position the bale in a pre-selected position on the roller bed after it has been loaded.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved automatic bale wagon which automatically performs the functions of lifting, positioning, transporting and unloading round bales of hay by means of a pivoting carriage attached to the wagon frame and having bale-engaging fork tines, and a roller bed mounted in the frame, with an electric winch having three cable drums and a system of cables for activating the carriage and operating a movable rake on the roller bed to engage a bale of hay, deposit it on the roller bed, and deliver it to a desired spot on the bed.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide an automatic bale wagon which is designed to be towed by a pickup truck or other vehicle, and is fitted with a pivoting carriage; a roller bed; a movable rake mounted above the roller bed and designed to traverse the length of the roller bed; and an electric winch having three drums provided with a system of three cables wound in different directions on the drums for sequentially lifting the carriage and moving the rake over the roller bed to automatically engage, lift and deposit a round bale of hay on the roller bed and position the bale of hay in a desired location on the bed by means of the rake.